At least 7 killed, 35 injured as suspected tornadoes hit St. Louis and southeast Missouri

At least seven people were killed when severe weather, including possible tornadoes, swept through St. Louis, Missouri, and another part of the state Friday, authorities said.

Five were dead in St. Louis, and two others died in Scott County, in southeastern Missouri, officials said.

Speaking at an evening news conference, St. Louis officials said over 5,000 homes may have been affected by the afternoon’s outbreak of severe weather.

A spokesperson for both St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital said the facilities have received at least 35 patients in total, with the children’s facility getting 15 and Barnes-Jewish seeing at least 20, possibly 30 who were injured as a result of the severe weather.

The spokesperson said all but two patients at the children’s facility were expected to be released Friday night; one was reported earlier to be in critical condition. Some of those at Barnes-Jewish were to be released, while others were said to be in serious condition, the spokesperson said.

At the late news conference, Mayor Cara Spencer announced that the number of fatalities has risen from four to five. She had said earlier that two of the dead were killed in North City, where a vortex was reported.

A northern swath of the city from Forest Park to the northern boundary was subject of a curfew through 6 a.m., the mayor said.

Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said severe weather hit about 20 square blocks of the city.

St. Louis police spokesperson Mitch McCoy said search-and-rescue operations were still underway with the help of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and surrounding county first responders.

“It’s all hands on deck to rescue as many people as we can and save lives,” he told NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis.

Search crews will find much darkness in the city, with more than 40,000 utility customers in the St. Louis region without power Friday night, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us. Missouri has more than 97,000 customers in the dark, according to the site.

The tornado was reported after 2:30 p.m. in the city near Forest Park and moving east toward Granite City, Illinois, said National Weather Service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler.

Its force level is unlikely to be known until Saturday when weather service spotters are able to get to the scene and measure damage, tracks and other elements of the vortex, he said.

The weather service office that covers St. Louis later said on X, “Damage reports and radar imagery suggest a tornado likely occurred across parts St Louis this afternoon. We will have a survey team on the ground tomorrow to confirm and assign a rating.”

KSDK reported that two tornadoes may have touched down in the region on Friday. The National Weather Service said it was working to confirm the second twister.

The station reported that a man was rescued from the rubble of a home after an hourslong operation. The residence was most likely smashed by a tornado or the severe weather’s associated potent winds in the area Friday, the station said.

“Considering the building collapsed on him, he’s doing great,” a fire official said after the man was pulled out.

The man had sought shelter in the home and ended up stuck inside, possibly in a pantry, KSDK said.

Coverage from the region included imagery of a decimated Harlem Tap Room, a historic bar on the city’s north side that has been at the same location for roughly 80 years.

A witness who was in the bar told KSDK that a fellow patron’s warning and the establishment’s flickering lights preceded his move and that of others there to the rear of the building, which he said likely saved lives.

St. Louis city officials and police asked the public to stay put on Friday as they respond to the storm’s effects.

Utility Spire energy, which serves 1.7 million customers in the region, said there is “severe damage” to homes. Video of the damage showed toppled brick walls and downed tree limbs and power lines in the region.

The nearby city of Clayton said its City Hall is closed as it coordinates a response to the severe weather.

In Scott County, Sheriff Derick Wheetley said in a social media post that two people died in a “devastating tornado” there.

“The tornado moved from the eastern part of the county, leaving behind a trail of destruction, with multiple homes completely lost and areas left unrecognizable,” he said.

The worst of the weather seemed to have passed St. Louis late in the afternoon, although federal forecasters said a dry night could be followed by the return of thunderstorms on Saturday.

The vortexes were products of a fast-moving low pressure system headed east-northeast from its location over parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, a region under tornado watch until 10 p.m.

The cool, winter-like storm is clashing with a heat wave to the southwest, producing unstable air and eruptions of thunderstorm activity.

Severe weather, including 11 unconfirmed tornadoes, was reported Thursday in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois, according to the weather service and NBC News forecasters.

A Beyoncé concert at Chicago’s open-air Soldier Field on Thursday was delayed because of the weather. Spectator video showed a ferocious downpour ahead of the show.